Beckman–Brown Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellows

Current Recipients

Jamila Hedhli

2018-2010
Hedhli earned her Ph.D. in bioengineering in May 2018 from the University of Illinois. She plans to develop gas-filled "smart bubbles" for ultrasound imaging of ovarian cancer with the ultimate goal of transforming the biomedical imaging landscape through the development of ultrasound probes, which will enable medical practitioners to use ultrasound to accurately diagnose diseases. Hedhli plans to work with Jeff Chan, an assistant professor of chemistry; Wawrzyniec Dobrucki, an assistant professor of bioengineering; King Li, the dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine; and Michael Oelze, a professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Vivian Lau

2017-2020
Lau received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University in 2016. She currently works as a postdoctoral research associate with Jeff Moore, a professor of chemistry, member of Beckman's Autonomous Materials Systems Group. Her research brings together chemical design, materials science, biophysics, and systems biology to develop and implement 'sono-chemogenetics,' a novel platform for ultrasound-induced exogenous control of genetic expression. Through fundamental studies of polymer mechanochemistry, a new drug delivery vehicle that releases bioactive small-molecules in response to ultrasound-generated mechanical force will be devised and evaluated in both in vitro and in vivo systems. She plans to continue to work with Moore and the Autonomous Materials Systems Group, as well as King C. Li, the dean of the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine and member of the Bioimaging Science and Technology Group at Beckman, and William O'Brien, a research professor in electrical and computer engineering and member of the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory.